Barcode systems are often used in medical environments to ensure safety. For example, a barcode system can ensure that correct drugs are given to the proper patient or only authorized personnel can administer the proper medical protocol to a patient.
Oftentimes, a barcode scanner is permanently associated with a single medical device. For example, the barcode scanner is physically attached to the medical device. As a result, the flexibility of a medical environment is limited because it is difficult to share barcode scanners with other medical devices.
Also, a floating barcode is utilized in BCMA systems. For floating barcode devices, barcode scans are sent to a centralized system. The scanning is only done to get information (e.g., device id, similar to when you scan a badge), and the information is used in backend systems to perform some general work. However, the intent and workflow, regarding the floating barcode in a BCMA system, is not for directing subsequent barcode scans to a particular device.
Moreover, a barcode scanner may be unable to directly communicate with a medical device because of limited communication capabilities.
The drawings referred to in this description should be understood as not being drawn to scale except if specifically noted.